Jews & the Messianic Age

He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Isaiah 2:4

John the Baptist

John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming an immersion of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were immersed by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

BUT: Christians don’t have to be Jewish – they can remain uncircumcised, eat pork, etc.

I have reached the decision that we should not trouble Gentiles who are turning to God, but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled and from blood. Acts 15:19-20

Going forward, the Hebrew Bible (Torah, Prophets, & Writings) will generally be usedby Christians as a prologue to the messiahship of Jesus. Especially the Prophets.

Paul: Roman leaders killed Jesus

Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God’s wisdom,secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Paul’s First Letter to Corinth 2:6-8

II. The Letters of the Apostle Paul to the Christ Communitiesca. 52 - 64 CE

The Exegesis of Paul’s letters/epistles

Letters are responding to questions about Christ Communities (ecclesia)

We don’t have any of the letters Paul’s responding to,and we don’t have all his letters

Jesus Feeds the Hungry

Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all.And all ate and were filled.

Mark 6:39-42

The Kingdom of God

Then he looked up at his disciples and said: Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

But woe to you who are rich,for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

Luke 6:20-21, 24-25

How the Kingdom of God works

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to eachas any had need.

Acts 4:32-35

The Synoptic Gospels: Mark, Matthew, and Luke are very similar

Gospel: (Old English: Good Spell/Word)

The first 3 Gospels see (optic) the same (syn) way

These 3 works tend to be more fluent (than John) in Jewish custom and ritual

John: Jesus is the Logos

In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

John 1:1-4

John: Jesus hunted by “the Jews”

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunityto kill him.

John 7:1

The Gospel of John

Authorship of John

90% unique material, the only non–synoptic gospel in the canon

Written comparatively late, for a pro-Roman Gentile audience

Crucifixion blamed squarely on “the Jews”

John’s Jesus – Hellenized Savior of the (Roman) World, hunted by Jews

Jesus’ ancestry cut (Romans don’t care about the Jewish line of kings)

The site of many of Jesus’ most famous episodes (eg. money changers, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion)

Year 50: The Council of Jerusalem

The seat of the Jerusalem Church — led by James the Just, the brother of Jesus

Greek Centers of Culture

Antioch: 1st place Christians are so named. First major Christian community after Jerusalem. Location of Matthew.

Alexandria: Home of the Septuagint Bible translation. Greek center of learning. Birthplace of Coptic Christianity.

Roman Centers of Culture

Rome: The seat of imperial Roman power at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. Where Paul, Peter, and James were killed.

Constantinople: The seat of imperial Roman (Byzantine) power at the time of the New Testament canonization.

PRACTICES(30-300 CE)

Jewish Roots

Early Christians: celebrate the Sabbath (Saturday), Passover, attend synagogue, and wash in the Mikvah (Baptism)

Later Christians: celebrate the Lord’s Day (Sunday), Easter, attend Church meetings, eat pork, pray in Greek and Latin,and will end circumcision. By the year 100, Christians are outwardly indistinguishable from other Romans.

No Christian Bible

Over the next 300 years, there is no such thing as a “Christian Bible”